Featured review by:
UG Team, on december 11, 2007
0 of 5 people found this review helpful
Price paid: $ 550
Purchased from: eBay
Features: This fretless bass was made around 1988 in the USA. It was constructed before Guild was bought out by Fender, so it is still a high quality bass. It has 22 frets or fret markers as the case may be. It also features a solid flamed maple top. The neck is 34 inch scale, also made of maple, with a rosewood fretboard. The neck is probably the skinniest that I have seen or played, considering the five strings. The electronics in my opinion are sub-par. I would gladly take a pair of MEC's or Bartolini's over the 2 active “J” style EMG's that are in this bass. The electronics aside this bass has a great many quality features. // 8
Sound: The sound on this bass is very unique, though not quite what I expected. While is has the growl that you get from most fretless basses, it just doesn't seem to have the punch. I think that this is mostly the fault of the EMG's, some higher quality pickups could probably fix it right up. However, if you are looking for a bass that can have a deep, rich, muddy sound, with a lot of growl and character, this is your instrument. Considering that I play mostly funk and jazz, it just doesn't provide the crisp high's that I need. Other than, that you can expect the sound of a jazz bass. // 8
Action, Fit & Finish: While the action & fit are the most desirable parts of this instrument, the finish leaves much to be desired. The action and fit are perfect. There is nothing more that you can say about them. It could be that the bass was professionally set up in Nashville before it was sent to me, or it could be that it is just a really old, finely crafted bass. This brings me to my next point which is the finish. The finish has several cracks in the gloss coat around the neck, as well as several pencil eraser sized chips. These could come from usage, however I would just as soon blame it on Guild's poor finishing skills. I say this only because I have seen the same kind of breakdown on the finish of my Guild acoustic guitar, and I know that it has been treated well. // 8
Reliability & Durability: All the problems with fit and finish aside, this bass is built like a tank, and is just about as heavy as one. It has already proven that it will hold up to the tests of time. Despite it's 20 years in existence, the tuners seem to be moving fine, none of the hardware is showing any ware, and the pots are dead quiet. I think that this bass will be in fine health when the next 20 years roll by. // 8
Impression: While the EMG's really hurt the sound of this bass, I think that I got a high quality, solid instrument for the price. I am impressed with the action, the hardware, and the overall feel of the instrument. A solid bass for beginners or professionals. // 8
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